Hammond Killings Link Probed

2 Men Found Dead Hours After Nearby Triple Slaying

Police and federal authorities are investigating the fatal shootings of five people whose bodies were discovered about 16 hours apart Tuesday and Wednesday at two crime scenes in Hammond, Ind. Investigators believe the killings are related.

Police were holding a news conference about the discovery of the bodies of two men and a woman on a secluded roadway when they got word that the bodies of two other men were found in a restaurant parking lot.

Hammond Police Chief John Cory declined to elaborate about a possible link.

"It would seem to be a very great coincidence" if the five slayings were not connected, Cory said Wednesday as he stood at the second crime scene.

One victim was awaiting trial on a felony drug charge, and Cory confirmed that the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration was assisting in the investigation. But he declined to say whether authorities believe the slayings were drug-related.

The first discovery came at about 6 p.m. Tuesday when a motorist on a road just off Calumet Avenue, a main thoroughfare, used a cellular telephone to report what appeared to be a one-vehicle accident.

When police arrived moments later, they discovered a full-size Dodge pickup truck pulled partially off the road and three victims--a woman and two men. Two were pronounced dead at the scene, while the third was dead on arrival at a nearby hospital.

All three victims died from multiple gunshot wounds, according to a spokesman for the Lake County, Ind., coroner's office. Police said it appeared at least one victim tried to get away and was found outside of the truck.

Shell casings were recovered at the scene and it appeared another vehicle had struck the pickup truck, but police refused to elaborate on evidence.

Police did say that they believe officers arrived within minutes of the slayings. No weapons were discovered at the scene or in the pickup truck. Police would not say if there were witnesses. The secluded roadway's traffic typically consists only of students attending a nearby college, police said.

The dead were identified as Louis Salvatore, 36, and Edward Zavala, 53, both of East Chicago, Ind., and Elizabeth Miller, 33, of nearby Dyer, Ind.

Salvatore was awaiting trial on a state felony cocaine possession charge levied last August, said Diane Poulton, a spokeswoman for the Lake County prosecutor's office. A trial date was to be set in two weeks, she said.

"I'm completely blown away by this," said Kirk Marrie, a Hammond attorney who had represented Salvatore in at least two civil cases in recent years. "He was a super nice guy."

Marrie described Salvatore as a former steelworker who was bright and easygoing. Salvatore's criminal attorney did not return a call Wednesday.

Hammond police were called to the second scene at about 10:20 a.m. Wednesday when someone in a parking lot serving a restaurant and hotel just down the road from the first scene noticed two men slumped over in a van.

Inside the van, police discovered both men were dead and probably had been for several hours, said Lt. Richard Hoyda. There was no blood inside the van and no other evidence that the men had been killed there, Hoyda said, leading police to conclude they were likely dumped at the parking lot.

Authorities later determined both men were shot in the head.

One of the two men was identified as Juan Gonzalez, 37, of East Chicago. Authorities Wednesday were still attempting to identify the second. The parking lot where the van was discovered is served by the first driveway available for motorists exiting the Indiana Toll Road at Calumet Avenue.

The owner of the van came to the parking lot Wednesday morning after reportedly hearing about the incident.

Police confirmed that the owner told them he had let a friend borrow the van Monday and hadn't seen it since. Police also said the man did not know either of the victims.

"These are not random acts of violence," Cory said. "Both of these situations were calculated and cold-blooded."